Fruit-picker.



S. HOEBER.

mun mom. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 13, 1911.

Patented Apr. 8, 1919.

INVENTOR A TTORNE Y I m: oam: "rs"; ca, Micro-Luna wnumovou, n e

' non snn or SEATTLE, wasnine'ron.

tijsoonesi 1 upper end to form ears '2.

= y 1;, its-insets Apiflicatidm mea zriin'eiis, '1

To all whom it mag concern; I 1

Be it known that I, Sm'rzn HonBnR, citizen of Holla-iidfiresiding at:Seattle, in the county of King and State of Washington, have inventedcertain new iand useifuljglmprovements in Fruit-Pickers, of Whiclfrthefollowing is a specification. I This invention relates to fruit pickersand has for its principal object to-provide an improved and novel fruitpicking device which embodies means for removing the individual fruitfrom the trees and conveying it ftovthe ground. Another object of mydevice isto" provide a flexible fruit conveyer which eni-v bodiesflexible and resilient baffles within the said conveyer; Still anotherobjeqt of my device is to provide" a fruit loosening fork which ismounted in 'sucha way-with. respect to the other members of the pickerasto be attachable for use" with either small or large fruit. I

Other objects will appear as my invention is more fully explained in thefollowing specification, illustrated in the accompanying drawings andpointedfout in the appended claim.

In the drawings Figure 'l is'a side elevation of my device withthe,parts broken away. Fig. '2 is an enlarged fragmentary inverted plan ofthe fruit removing fork, the" bifurcated ends of the support beingshown" in section. same. Fig. 4 is a rear elevation of "Fig- 3. Fig. 5is an enlarged crossse'ctional elevation of the fruit conveyerinFig; 2showing j abafile. 7

Referring more particularly to the draw ings numeral 1 indicates a staffor handleato the upper end of which is secured a'fork. sup-vporting rod2, which is bifurcated at its;

I A reinforced. fabric funnel 3 isv secured by means of a bracket to thefork support-2 and is pro- .J vided at its lower end with detachable conveying sections 4 which; are preferably formed of cloth tubes securedtogether by. means of snaps, buttons or the like. The lower tube 5 isprovided with a series of in-' J clined baflles 6 whichpartially-obstructithe tube 5 and are in standard relationship to eachother. The 'baflles Gare also madeof flexible fabric and areprovidedwith an elastic band 7 along the open end. The- I if Specification-,ofl'ie function; off the lastic? be the baffles will have sufiicientforceto stretch the elastic and Fig. 3 is a side elevation bf Y.

grapes or the like fruit, the pin '9 drawn and-the fork is" tilted onitspivot g with the chute and swung forwardly as at. i v

to 5 pai tiall y contract the:openinglbetweeiiithe edge Genie timeseas.acetates tumbling down the conveyer and striking open up suffi--cient spacel to permit the fruit to pass sucv v In this connecti-on theenergy which is. required to overcome-the action ofthe elastic 7 will bea-b'sorbed'from themovinglfruit and will- 1 a *6'5 fruit without:injuring it by bruising and T fruit to the bottom .of the 'convey'er'5,,witl1 little or no cessively the various baflies;

tend to check gradually. the velocity of the will deliver the gvelocity. A picking fork 8 isfhingedly connected to the top of forksupport? by a pin 9 and may be retained in the position showninlfiig; 1or 'in the dotted position shown in thesame figure if desired. The rearnd-of :the'fork is slotted as at 8, and atthe inner endof the slot is acentral lug 8? which with the side of said weight" and 'e havingbifurcated prongs 8 I fork form *spaces for the reception of the ears2*. Extending throughthe ears 2 are two openin-gsQ and 2 disposed onopposite sides of the pin '9, and either of said open} ings 2P'-2 may bebrought into alinement i with an .openingS", in the fork. A pin 9,extends through the opening S, and oneof the openings 25012? inthe earsto hold the fork. in "adjusted position.

which when said forkis in the dotted line rect fruit to the 'funneL a VThe rear;- of fork adjacentthe s1 t LS is providedwith side flanges toform chute 10,

fruit'fsueh as apples, peaches or pears,'i-t is.

the earsj2 lj. .Nowfif it bej-desiredto pick shown in dotted, linesinFigs. l and 3, and then thepin' 9 is inserted through openings 8 andthe:

locks the fork to the rod ,2.

From the.foregoinggdescription it will be seen that when the fork ishorizontally dis vposed it can be readily moved to engage the is with-V,

penings TQPin the ears which its To'loc'k thefork in} position to picklarge Stem of the fruit, and When the latter falls it drops into thfunnel. Also When picking grapes, and the fork is tilted as described,the fruit Will, when pulled from the vines slide down the chute to the"funnel Without bruising. I

While I have shown a particular form of 'emloodiment of my invention, Iam aware that many minor changes therein Will readily suggest themselvesto others skilled in the art Without'departing from the spirit and scopeof the invention, and I therefore :desire to avoid being limited to theexact form shown and described.

5 Having descri-bed my invention What 1- Copies of this patent maybeobtained for claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent, is

In a fruit picking device the combination of a fork supporting staff, afork hingedly secured to the upper end of said staff, a

ture.

SIETZE HoEBEn.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. 0.

